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Tense progression

Posted: March 1st, 2020, 1:30 am
by Peng Huiguo
Interesting progression of imperfect→present→aorist in a coupla papyri:

BGU 3.846 "the prodigal son's letter"
γινώσκειν σε θέλω
ὅτι οὐχ ἤλπιζον
ὅτι ἀναβαίνεις εἰς τὴν μητρόπολιν
χάριν τούτου οὐδ’ ἐγὼ εἰσῆλθα εἰς τὴν πόλιν

P.Giss 1.17
ὤφελον εἰ ἐδυνάμεθα πετᾶσθαι καὶ ἐλθεῖν καὶ προσκυνῆσαί σε

Maybe the time/aspect of a verb should be seen not in a verb instance itself but in relation to other verbs in a block of event arc. Say an event "I buy grocery" (aorist) comprises "I get ready to buy grocery" (future), "I leave the house" (imperfect), "I walk to the store" (present) and "I buy grocery" (perfect or aorist). Maybe those imperfects that end Mark's pericopes function like "to-be-continueds", I don't know.

In this light I would suggest a different answer to this question now, that the imperative present→aorist is a natural progression.

Re: Tense progression

Posted: March 7th, 2020, 7:05 pm
by Peng Huiguo